No one was expecting shock and awe rugby from the All Blacks in Wellington – just some obvious signs that the attack was more polished, varied and direct than it had been against England would have been fine.
Everyone would have gone home happy enough if the lineout had operated effectively for 80 minutes; if the recycling of possession had been quick and dynamic and there was a greater sense of cohesion, accuracy and control.
And a victory, of course, was a minimum expectation – a non-negotiable demand really because the whole point, or certainly one of the critical reasons New Zealand Rugby felt compelled to effectively axe the previous All Blacks coaching regime last year, was to ensure that defeats to Argentina became a thing of the past.
But after 80 minutes, a crowd – that began the night best described as underwhelming – walked out of a stadium that is now a genuine graveyard for the All Blacks – best described as underwhelmed.
There was barely a positive to be found. Will Jordan made his long-awaited return from injury and looked as sharp and innovative as he always does, and Sam Darry played with the sort of crunch and determination to suggest his test future could be long and memorable.
The rest of it, though, had looked like it had been planned by the rioters plaguing the streets of Britain’s urban centres – it was chaotic, frenzied even and mostly only ever thrived on opportunism.
At the heart of this wildness was a chronic failure across the board to execute the basics – the simple business of pass, catch, kick – at a level that was remotely close to international standard.
The lineout went into meltdown in the final quarter when Asafo Aumua couldn’t throw the ball straight or to its intended targets.
The discipline slipped, too, in the final quarter with the concession of a few needless penalties and on a night when there was eerily no wind in the capital, the All Blacks battled to exit their own territory.
It looked at times, like they were a golfer trying to clear the ball out of heavy rough that no one else could see.
The All Blacks turned in by far their worst performance of the Scott Robertson era against Argentina, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Photosport
But there was no better example of the erraticism that defined this loss than the crazy passage that led to the Pumas winning try, which saw the All Blacks throw two consecutive wild passes that lost them 40 metres and left Rieko Ioane conceding a scrum when he had no chance to escape his own dead ball area in the recovery bid.
It was a shambles, although vice-captain Jordie Barrett, preferred to label it as “uncharacteristic”. “But we allowed it to happen,” Barrett said.
“We were a little bit loose, and we allowed them to feed into the game they wanted.
“Argentina are a good side and experienced and we were under no illusion it was going to be an arm wrestle and that is exactly what we prepared for.
“We had opportunities, but we didn’t control it when we had to. We forced some things, we made some errors and we have learned the hard way with Argentina in New Zealand that you can’t give them easy entries into our half.”
But to pin the whole sorry business of falling apart on a lack of accuracy would be to only tell half the story.
The All Blacks didn’t get their game management right either. The art of knowing when to kick, when to run and when to pass is one that this team is finding hard to develop.
The balance of their game, as it was against England in both tests, was never quite right and for much of the first half, the All Blacks relentlessly pumped the ball high through TJ Perenara to no great effect.
It seemed an unfathomable plan as it did little to stress Argentina and it prevented the All Blacks from building any kind of rhythm.
And it was presumably as unfathomable to Robertson as it was to everyone else as he stood on the sideline for the last few minutes of the first half, willing his side to stop kicking so much.
And this is maybe the biggest concern of all in the operation to rebuild and rejuvenate the All Blacks.
In the three tests played in New Zealand, there has been little evidence of lessons being learned week to week. There is also a growing concern that there is a disconnect between what the coaches want and what the players deliver.
The overriding pattern of each test has been the same – the All Blacks come into each game promising they won’t be sucked into an arm wrestle and 60 minutes in, they are locked into an arm wrestle.
Something has to change in Auckland this week or the timeline for this renovation project will be pushed back further.
